Many current operations rely upon loading a material or product into a vehicle or other equipment. Automation of many of the processes in the operation is a commonly-sought objective to increase productivity and efficiency. For example, many mining operations utilize vehicles to load, haul and unload materials. Increasing the productivity and efficiency of the processes within a mining operation is particularly desirable as each load hauled by a mining vehicle may be very valuable. Moreover, capital equipment costs in large mining operations can be quite high.
In current mining operations, one of the more difficult portions of the mining cycle to reliably detect is the start of a loading or unloading process. Without knowledge of the time in which the loading or unloading process actually started it is very difficult, if not impossible, to accurately determine how long the process takes to complete, or to monitor and evaluate drivers and loaders, determine when a driver is becoming fatigued or slowing down on the job, so that the driver can be relieved or replaced, etc. It is desirable to know how long each process takes to complete in order to monitor the productivity and efficiency of the operation. In large mining operations, the old adage “time is money” indeed holds true.
Some current mining systems rely on a vehicle operator manually indicating that a loading process has begun. For instance, the vehicle operator may be required to push a button in order to indicate that the loading process has started. Such a technique, however, depends on the accuracy and memory of the operator. If the operator forgets to push the button, or pushes the button too early or too late, any measurement of when the loading process began and how long it took to complete will be inaccurate and unreliable.
Other current mining systems rely only on the location of the vehicle, using GPS for example, to try to infer that the mining vehicle is engaged in the process of loading or dumping a payload. One problem with such a method is that often multiple trucks will be present at a loading site at the same time. GPS alone cannot provide the data necessary to determine when a particular truck begins the loading process. Moreover, many trucks may sometimes stop near a loading site at shift change, thus frustrating any attempt to determine when a loading process for a particular truck began.
Thus, there is a need in the field for a system for detecting the location of a vehicle, such as a mining vehicle, and determine whether the vehicle is undergoing loading or unloading, travelling or sitting idle.
There is also a need in the field for a system that can reliably begin a timer when a vehicle begins a loading or unloading process, so that the time that a vehicle spends completing a particular activity may be known and used to monitor and increase productivity.
Furthermore, there is a need in the field for a system that can determine a condition of a road based on acceleration experienced by a vehicle as it travels over the road.
The ability to reliably and accurately determine whether a vehicle is beginning a loading or unloading process, starting a timer so that the amount of time spent performing the loading or unloading may be recorded, and determining a condition of the road allows for increased operation efficiency and production in a mining operation.